Thought I'd introduce myself by showing off my homemade BBQ/Smokepit.
The name "Smokenstein" was originally used for my first smoker, which was just one of the small offset smokers you can get at Wal-Mart for around a hundred bucks. I outgrew the original Smokenstein quickly, but kept using it until I was able to get my dream smoker built. The "69" was added to this one (originally was just going to be Smokenstein Jr. or Smokenstein II) because after a few 30 packs of Busch and a weekend of setting the CMU with a few of my friends, we measured the walls and the interior from opposite corners came out to be 69". This was not planned... just happened to come out that way and hence I'm a firm believer in destiny!
After the CMU was set, I worked on the tops, and my wife... as a Father's Day gift... started bricking around the structure.
I finally got a welder to build the doors and racks for me this fall and we were up and running in early November.
The "firebox" on the right side is basically as big as a standard fireplace, so we go through A LOT of wood... especially when doing a brisket or pork butt that requires 14-18 hours of constant fire. Above the smokebox front door, we have a steel plate (I've called the "smoke shield") to help direct the heat and smoke into the "smokebox", working essentially as an offset smoker. There's an interior wall with a cinder block turned on it's side for the smoke/heat to travel through. The original intention of the design was to use the smokebox side for smoking, and then to use the top of the firebox side to build fires above the smoke shield for direct grilling. But, I've discovered that the top of the firebox side actually works well with the smokebox side... as it gets up around 400 degrees up there and holds plenty of smoke as well, so with most of my meats, I'll start them off on the firebox side to get good caramelization and seal in the juices and then move the meat over to the smokebox side to slow-smoke it from there.
On the firebox side, I have 2 racks set side-by-side, and on the smokebox side, I have room for 4 racks (two racks per level) but I haven't set the bottom set of racks yet. This thing is so big that until I'm cooking for 100 or so people, I've got plenty of cooking space with one level.
I'm still getting to know Smokenstein and it's trends. I've found that it takes several hours before the heat maxes out (which makes the rack above the fire extra useful). I'm not a big fan of depending on thermometers, so I pretty much just judge the meat by look and feel. So far, everything I've smoked has been either the best, or close to the best smoked meat I've ever made... but there's still plenty of room for improvement.
In the month I've had Smokenstein 69 up and smoking, I've fired her up 7-8 times. Smoked a Thanksgiving turkey and ham that turned out excellent, many racks of ribs, hot links, smoked sausage, salmon, brisket, pork butt, and my new favorite meat to smoke... beef ribs (I never have been able to get these quite right until finding the mystic balance of teamwork using the firebox and smokebox side together!).
There's still some bells and whistles to iron out here. We're going to touch up some of the mortar work and clean up and seal the brickwork. I still have to finish the chimney so it's not just a concrete block sitting up there. And one of these days, I'd like to get a metal plate with "Smokenstein's" name on it. But the important thing is it's smoking and smoking well.
Looking forward to discussing smoked meats with you fine folks here and hopefully will be able to share some "wisdom" I've picked up along the way as well.
Cheers!
The name "Smokenstein" was originally used for my first smoker, which was just one of the small offset smokers you can get at Wal-Mart for around a hundred bucks. I outgrew the original Smokenstein quickly, but kept using it until I was able to get my dream smoker built. The "69" was added to this one (originally was just going to be Smokenstein Jr. or Smokenstein II) because after a few 30 packs of Busch and a weekend of setting the CMU with a few of my friends, we measured the walls and the interior from opposite corners came out to be 69". This was not planned... just happened to come out that way and hence I'm a firm believer in destiny!
After the CMU was set, I worked on the tops, and my wife... as a Father's Day gift... started bricking around the structure.
I finally got a welder to build the doors and racks for me this fall and we were up and running in early November.
The "firebox" on the right side is basically as big as a standard fireplace, so we go through A LOT of wood... especially when doing a brisket or pork butt that requires 14-18 hours of constant fire. Above the smokebox front door, we have a steel plate (I've called the "smoke shield") to help direct the heat and smoke into the "smokebox", working essentially as an offset smoker. There's an interior wall with a cinder block turned on it's side for the smoke/heat to travel through. The original intention of the design was to use the smokebox side for smoking, and then to use the top of the firebox side to build fires above the smoke shield for direct grilling. But, I've discovered that the top of the firebox side actually works well with the smokebox side... as it gets up around 400 degrees up there and holds plenty of smoke as well, so with most of my meats, I'll start them off on the firebox side to get good caramelization and seal in the juices and then move the meat over to the smokebox side to slow-smoke it from there.
On the firebox side, I have 2 racks set side-by-side, and on the smokebox side, I have room for 4 racks (two racks per level) but I haven't set the bottom set of racks yet. This thing is so big that until I'm cooking for 100 or so people, I've got plenty of cooking space with one level.
I'm still getting to know Smokenstein and it's trends. I've found that it takes several hours before the heat maxes out (which makes the rack above the fire extra useful). I'm not a big fan of depending on thermometers, so I pretty much just judge the meat by look and feel. So far, everything I've smoked has been either the best, or close to the best smoked meat I've ever made... but there's still plenty of room for improvement.
In the month I've had Smokenstein 69 up and smoking, I've fired her up 7-8 times. Smoked a Thanksgiving turkey and ham that turned out excellent, many racks of ribs, hot links, smoked sausage, salmon, brisket, pork butt, and my new favorite meat to smoke... beef ribs (I never have been able to get these quite right until finding the mystic balance of teamwork using the firebox and smokebox side together!).
There's still some bells and whistles to iron out here. We're going to touch up some of the mortar work and clean up and seal the brickwork. I still have to finish the chimney so it's not just a concrete block sitting up there. And one of these days, I'd like to get a metal plate with "Smokenstein's" name on it. But the important thing is it's smoking and smoking well.
Looking forward to discussing smoked meats with you fine folks here and hopefully will be able to share some "wisdom" I've picked up along the way as well.
Cheers!
